G 20

ARTICLES ABOUT G 20 BY DATE - PAGE 3

BRISBANE: G20 leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi , today vowed to implement an anti-corruption action plan as part of a drive against the use of shell companies and trusts to engage in tax evasion and money laundering. "We endorse the 2015-16 G20 Anti-Corruption plan that will support growth and resilience," the leaders said in a communique released at the end of the two-day summit. A set of principles for governments to follow that aims to make it easier to find out who is the beneficial owner of entities which are stated to facilitate hundreds of billions of dollars in illicit financial flows was unveiled by the G20 and contained in annexures to the communique.

BRISBANE: The G20 leaders today decided to set up a Global Infrastructure Hub to help reduce barriers to investment and improve information sharing for channelising funds into the sector. Located in Sydney, the Hub will contribute to developing a knowledge-sharing platform and network between governments, the private sector, development banks and other international organisations. "The Hub will foster collaboration among these groups to improve the functioning and financing of infrastructure markets," said the communique released at the end of two day G20 meeting here.

BRISBANE: As India makes attempts to recover black money from abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked every country, especially tax havens, to provide information for tax purposes in accordance with treaty obligations. Raising the pitch on the black money issue, Modi in his intervention at the summit of the Group of 20 industrialised and major emerging economies called for close global coordination to address the challenge posed by it. Modi voiced India's support for a new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information, saying it would be instrumental in getting information relating to unaccounted money hoarded abroad and enable its eventual repatriation.

BRISBANE: Welcoming breakthrough between India and the US on the food stock piling issue, G20 leaders today hoped that it will put WTO negotiations back on track and facilitate the implementation of trade pact which is necessary for driving growth and generating jobs. "We welcome the breakthrough between the United States and India that will help the full and prompt implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and includes provisions on food security.

BRISBANE: The G20 leaders today expressed disappointment over the slow pace of quota reforms at the International Monetary Fund, urging the US to ratify them to make the institution more effective and representative. "We are deeply disappointed with the continued delay in progressing the IMF quota and governance reforms agreed in 2010 and the 15th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula," said the communique released after the meeting of G20 leaders. Emerging counties, like India, China, Brazil and Russia have been asking for increased voting rights in IMF, which would reflect their growing share in world economy.

BRISBANE: Taking concerns of India and other developing countries on board, the G20 today vowed to take "strong practical" measures to reduce the global average cost of transferring remittances to five per cent. India, which is world's largest recipient of remittances with $71 billion sent last year, pushed for a reduction in the remittance costs of non-residents at the G20 summit that ended today, asking it to work on steps to reduce costs in sending money home from abroad which is as high as 10 per cent in some countries.

BRISBANE: The G20 leaders today committed to put in place a mechanism for automatic exchange of tax information between member countries by 2017, an issue which has been continuously raised by India at international fora to check the menace of black money. The leaders of 20 developing and developed countries also endorsed the action plan to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), which would be finalised in 2015, to make sure companies pay their fair share of tax. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the G20 summit was attended by global leaders including US President Barack Obama and United Kingdom PM David Cameron and others.

By Sreeram Chaulia The ninth summit of the G20 group of major economies in Brisbane, Australia, is a meeting ground for politicians that matter at a moment when the world is struggling to move past the economic crisis which began six years ago. Heads of governments convening in Brisbane have the challenge of a lifetime on their hands. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded economic growth projections for both advanced and emerging markets, forecasting gloomy "clouds", "uncertainties" and unresolved "legacies" from the crash of 2008.

BRISBANE: As he seeks to accelerate his economic reform drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said reform process is bound to face resistance and wanted it to be insulated from political pressures. Making a strong pitch for economic reforms, Mold told fellow G20 leaders at a Retreat here that reforms should lead to simplification of processes and that methods of governance must be reformed. The retreat was hosted by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the Queensland Parliament House where the leaders met without aides shortly before the annual summit of the 20 industrialised and major economies kicked off at the Brisbane Convention Centre in the afternoon.

BRISBANE: As visiting G20 leaders trooped one by one into their summit venue, it was a warm hug for the host and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi . Each leader came into the room at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre one at a time, stopped to shake Abbott's hand and posed for a photo before walking out of the room in the other direction. When Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Australia in 28 years after Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, made his entry, he gave Abbott a hearty hug. Abbott greeted the dignitaries as he stood in the middle of the room in front of a turquoise wall with the words "Australia 2014" and "G20 Summit Brisbane 2014".